A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India - Geological & Mining ...

2.3.1 Disaster Mitigation and PreparednessTwigg et al. (2000) have compiled a comprehensive study on the role of NGOs indisaster mitigation and preparedness. They reported that while the late 80s markeda reasonable amount of attention devoted to the subject (Winchester, 1983;Maskrey 1989) ultimately, and unlike the role of NGOs in relief and development,there is actually very little in the literature regarding NGOs in the preparedness andmitigation field; highlighting the low level of priority and importance that is placedon it (Benson et al., 2001). There have been several attempts at bringing the topicinto the sphere but it has been repeatedly pushed to the wayside (Winchester,1983; Maskrey, 1989). The views expressed in the late 1980s were of the opinionthat “NGOs are the actor with the greatest potential to bring about major change indisaster mitigation” (Winchester, 1979). Views in this light have largely held thesame since the late 1980s, contrary to the heated discussions plaguing the relief -development continuum where the role of NGOs has evolved and changed overtime (Alexander, 1997).The 1960s marked a rift in relief and development arenas which subsequentlypicked up pace in the 1970s, in turn discouraging NGOs from getting involved inDMP strategies and programmes. Events such as the famine in Africa finallyplaced disasters on the map, forcing NGOs to sit up and take note of the linkbetween development and disasters. Cuny (1983) stated “The growing awarenessby volags (voluntary agencies) of the connection between disaster response anddevelopment is the single most important trend in disaster programmes today.” AUN report on mobilising local communities as a means of alleviating the effects ofdisasters also noted a shift in the way disasters have been viewed and in themethods/mechanisms for responding to them. The report points out that in the pastdisasters were largely the sole responsibility of emergency workers, but that a shiftof taking into account more the context and the social and economic conditions hassince occurred (UNISDR). The 1990s finally marked the appearance of DMP onthe international aid agenda at all levels with such initiatives as the UN-ledInternational Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).The Role of NGOs in Disaster Mitigation and Response – A Case Study in Uttarakhand, Northern India 24